Ahamefula Ogbu
11 November 2009
Port Harcourt — The post-amnesty programme of the Federal Government has suffered another confidence crisis as a group, South-South Youths Leaders Forum, has described the planned infrastructural development the Federal Government is planning for the Niger Delta as a Greek gift only meant to further exploit their rural poor.
A statement sent online to THISDAY by the acting chairman of the Forum, Mr. Odiedim Amachree, observed that building coastal highways through the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) package would only mean that investors would recoup their money through the setting up of capitalist programmes.
To avoid a situation whereby the fragile peace that has been achieved would give way to another round of agitation borne out of disappointment with the approach the government has adopted, the youth leaders posited that it would be better if the problems were solved now.
According to them, if the Federal Government builds the infrastructure and tax the people, it would only translate to exploiting the people who are made to pay for what ought to be development to address their complain of neglect.
"Our true position on the collective interest of our people cannot be over emphasised. Federal Government recently pronounced some goodwill projects in the region. We in the South-South Youth leaders' Forum see this as a noble gesture that will re-open economic activities in the area and further open up enormous opportunity that will generate massive employment for our people and most importantly our teeming youths.
"These projects which include the Niger Delta coastal road and railway system will enhance development and boost tourism in the coastal area. While we are all optimistic that a meaningful project like this would have solved some major transportation challenges in the region, it has come to our notice that the Federal Government has decided to carry out these projects on Public Private Partnership (PPP) or Build Operate and Transfer basis.
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